Are Drell Ticklish?
by Hermia S
Summary: A tickle war breaks out in Shepard's cabin. Who will become the victor?


**A/N:** Prompt thrown out by the fabulous IccaRa via the NSAS. 3 One more step towards giving you all cavities. I've been writing so much fluff lately, the angst parts of my brain are starting to die.

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Thane wasn't entirely sure how he ended up in this position. He'd retired for the night to Shepard's quarters, as he'd grown accustomed to doing over the past few weeks, with his own set of intentions. She was under a lot of stress lately. From the Council to the Illusive Man, no one seemed ready to climb off of her back and give her enough room to breathe and figure things out for herself. It was his duty as her lover to calm her nerves and ease whatever tension built within her.

So why was _he_ lying on his stomach with his head rested on top of his crossed forearms as Shepard's hands worked over his shoulders? And how had he ended up half-naked? That wasn't to say he wasn't enjoying himself. She was quite good at what she was doing, and by now she knew the places to hit for maximum relief.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked, though his words were half-muffled by the pillow he rested his head upon.

He could feel her shift forward a little, her thighs tightening around his slender waist. "Mmm-hmm," Shepard replied as the butt of her palm dug carefully into his shoulder, pulling a quiet groan from his lips. "This is _exactly_ what I want."

Thane chuckled at the husky tone she adopted, "How was your afternoon, siha? Any news from the Council?"

To Shepard's credit, she hardly even flinched. "Council?" she asked, fingers trailing warm whispers over his shoulder blades. "What Council? I wasn't aware we even had a Council so much as a group of complete, utter nitwits." Despite her obvious bitterness, her voice remained relatively light, darkening only when she began again. "You probably shouldn't ask me any more questions about my day, _Sere Krios_, not if you want to live to tell about it."

An underlying threat became obvious when her nails ghosted over his spine. His entire body went rigid, and he bit down on his lip. She could feel his shoulders quiver beneath her hands as he tried his damnedest not to laugh.

Shepard grinned as she did it again, only to have him shift between her legs in protest. "Don't do that," he murmured, torn between amusement and absolute horror.

It took a lot to make Shepard giggle. They were infrequent among bouts of chuckling and outright laughter. But when she saw his eyebrow ridges pinch, contradicting the curl on his lips, she could hardly bite it back. Leaning forward as he struggled to turn over, she pinned him down to the bed with two strong forearms across his shoulders, arms bent so she could concentrate all ten, wriggling fingers on that single spot.

Thane sputtered as his own laughter quickly changed pitch, an almost childish cackle yanked right from his throat. He pulled himself up onto his elbows before reaching behind his head to brush her hands away, knowing there was little to no chance this would change her course of action.

Of course, she swatted his hands away as soon as he introduced them to the equation, her own laughter bubbling higher as her fingers ran farther south, roaming over the thick black stripes and the smooth, iridescent scales, until she reached what she assumed would be another prime location for tickling. When her fingers attacked him mercilessly, he did not react. Instead, his laughter died to a low chuckle.

"A purely human mistake," he murmured, taking advantage of her poorly balanced location in order to flip onto his back. She fell off of him as he did so, but was caught by a pair of arms before she was able to so much as flail her own.

However, a set of strong arms wouldn't keep her down, not when she had her mind set on something. Persistence and determination could bring her anywhere. And it would. A light bulb flicked on somewhere inside of her brain as he pulled her close, and she responded in kind, as effortlessly as anything, pressing her body flush against his.

Surely he must realize…

The feeling of his mouth warm against hers was indeed a sign that Thane was blissfully unaware. Hell, even her own concentration faltered as his tongue teased her lips, his hands pressed against the small of her back as he held her there. "Lets get you out of these pants, hmm?" Shepard purred after pulling her lips a mere hair's breadth from away from his, her fingers teasing the tender flesh just above the leather.

His response was one of silent agreement. He sat up, his palms leaving her hips with obvious reluctance before moving to the zipper that remained the only boundary between her and her goal. Awe was one word to describe what he felt as his eyes settled on Shepard, watching as she took charge of the situation. Though, really, he shouldn't have been surprised by the ease with which she removed his pants; she'd been doing so a lot lately.

But when the leathers were cast aside and he was lying there, Shepard did not go for what he'd expected. Instead, her hands went to his feet, and he nearly tumbled backwards off of the bed in an attempted escape when he realized her plan.

It wasn't every day he wasn't fast enough to avoid something. He was _always_ fast enough.

Shepard almost felt bad when she heard him groan in defeat as she snatched his ankle and tugged him closer, a devious grin plastered to her face. "Oh, shush, you," she laughed, her index poised and crooked before his instep. She could see him cringe as she placed the pad of her finger on his heel, no doubt readying himself for the onslaught. He was even grasping the sheets in preparation. Oh, so he WAS ticklish on his feet.

This gave her no small thrill as she ran her nail up to the ball of his foot.

Nothing.

She did it again.

Nothing.

At that, she felt her own legs yanked out from beneath her, falling onto her back with a dull _thump_ against her pillows. Her boots and socks had been discarded when she first entered her cabin, much to Thane's pleasure and her startled disbelief.

She was already wriggling around when she felt one of Thane's hands close around her ankle. "Oh, come on! That's not fair!"

"I will need clarification, siha," he murmured, index trailing along her instep. She was already giggling, which had his composure threatening to break already, and she jerked in his grasp to no avail. "What isn't fair? I am only reciprocating."

Shepard could hardly a complete thought, much less words at this point. Instead, she laughed. She laughed, and he tickled, grinning like she'd only seen a few times before.

She didn't really mind all that much, but neither had he.


End file.
